They wear cute little backpacks stuffed with electronics and batteries, and will, quite literally, run, jump or turn at the flick of a switch. The news that American scientists, funded by the Pentagon, have discovered how to turn living rats into radio-controlled machines that move to order will amuse some and horrify many (see Say hello to the RoboRat). Expect a rash of speculation about whether dogs, cats and budgerigars could be next, and whether we are now on some terrible slippery slope that will end up with radio-controlled brain implants being used to control young offenders.
But the question we should be asking is more mundane. Is this an acceptable thing to do even to a lowly lab rat? Toxicologists already dose rats up on poisons. Neuroscientists routinely condition them to press levers or run around mazes鈥攁nd insert electrodes into their brains. But this takes animal manipulation to a new level. Rats are usually trained to perform specific tasks in specific lab environments. These radio-controlled rats obey generic movement commands in virtually any environment. The degree of control is unprecedented and impressive. Far less impressive are the stated reasons for the experiments. It is not obvious what these animals can tell us that couldn鈥檛 be learned from conventional neuroscience. And does anyone seriously believe we will ever detect landmines with radio-controlled rodents? April Fool鈥檚 Day has been and gone. This research was done not because the world needs obedient rats but because the technology was there.